Node Directed Multicast Traffic Management Systems and Methods for Mesh Networks

ABSTRACT

Systems and related methods include node directed management of multicast traffic within a wireless mesh network. A wireless mesh network may include a plurality of mesh nodes and a central server in communication with at least one of the mesh nodes of the plurality of mesh nodes. The central server may be configured to generate one or more rules for at least one of the mesh nodes to instruct a change in a pre-routing parameter in a packet header based on received channel state information. The central server may include a rules-based engine configured to generate and convey one or more traffic shaping rules in response to sensing traffic conditions. The position of received multicast packets in a packet order may be modified.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/642,399 entitled “NODE DIRECTED MULTICASTTRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MESH NETWORKS,” which wasfiled 9 Mar. 2015, which claims priority from co-pending U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/951,158 entitled “NODE DIRECTEDMULTICAST TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MESH NETWORKS,”which was filed 11 Mar. 2014, and assigned to the assignee hereof.

BACKGROUND

Internet Protocol (IP) multicast is a routing technique that allows IPtraffic to be sent from one source or multiple sources and delivered tomultiple destinations. Instead of sending individual packets to eachdestination, a single packet is sent to a multicast group, which isidentified by a single IP destination group address. IP multicastrouting protocols use a time-to-live (TTL) parameter to decide how “far”from a sending host a given multicast packet should be forwarded (i.e.,a number of hops). The default TTL value for multicast within a wirelessmesh network is one (1), thus resulting in a multicast packet beingforwarded one (1) hop, which may be insufficient.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless mesh networks, andmore particularly to node directed multicast routing within wirelessmesh networks. In certain embodiments, a wireless mesh network includesa plurality of mesh nodes and a central server in communication witheach mesh node of the plurality. The central server may be configured togenerate one or more rules for each mesh node of the plurality. The oneor more rules may instruct the mesh node to change in a pre-routingparameter in a packet header of a multicast packet received at a meshnode during a multicast operation based, at least in part, on channelstate information received at the mesh node. More specifically,according to one embodiment, the central server (i.e., networkcontroller) includes a rules-based engine configured to generate one ormore rules, for each mesh node of a wireless mesh network, to managemulticast traffic within the wireless mesh network. In certainimplementations, the central server is further configured to convey theone or more rules to the one or more mesh nodes. The central server mayalso be configured to sense traffic. In some cases, the channel stateinformation includes a noise floor value.

In some instances, the central server includes a multicast daemonconfigured to convey one or more rules to the one or more mesh nodes. Amesh node may implement a Netfilter packet filtering framework, theNetfilter framework configured to forward or drop one or more receivedpackets based on one or more rules. In certain cases, the pre-routingparameter is a time-to-live (TTL) parameter. In some instances, the oneor more rules instruct the one or more mesh nodes to adjust the TTLparameter within the wireless mesh route.

In some embodiments, the wireless mesh network node includes a receiver,a packet encoding and packet decoding engine, a rule insertion engine,and a channel state detection engine. In certain instances, the rulesinsertion engine is further configured to insert one or more rules thatinstruct the mesh node to adjust a pre-routing parameter. In someimplementations, the channel state detection engine is furtherconfigured to determine a noise floor value. In certain cases, adjustingthe pre-routing parameter is based, at least in part, on a detectedchannel state.

Of course, methods of operating a system are also within the scope ofthe present invention. Such a method may include, at a wireless meshnode, receiving one or more rules, receiving channel state information,determining a pre-routing parameter value based, at least in part, onthe received channel state information, and setting a pre-routingparameter of a received multicast packet to the pre-routing parametervalue. In some instances, receiving the one or more rules includesreceiving the one or more rules from a central controller. In certaincases, modifying the pre-routing parameter includes modifying atime-to-live (TTL) parameter in at least one wireless mesh route duringthe multicast operation. In some embodiments, receiving channel stateinformation includes receiving a noise floor value. In certain cases,the method includes the additional step of modifying the position of areceived multicast packet in a packet ordering of multiple receivedmulticast packets.

Yet other embodiments of the present invention comprisecomputer-readable media storage storing instructions that when executedby a processor cause the processor to perform instructions in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

Other aspects, as well as features and advantages of various aspects, ofthe present invention will become apparent to those of skill in the artthough consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanyingdrawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the embodimentsmay be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the appendedfigures, similar components or features may have the same referencelabel. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguishedby following the reference label by a dash and a second label thatdistinguishes among the similar components. If only the first referencelabel is used in the specification, the description is applicable to anyone of the similar components having the same first reference labelirrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 is a mesh network deployed multicast traffic management systemincluding a plurality of mesh nodes and a central controller;

FIG. 2 is a system architecture of a mesh node of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a node directed multicast traffic management system includinga plurality of mesh nodes and a central controller;

FIG. 4 is a computer system architecture and packet processing frameworkof a client mesh node of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of multicast traffic management at thecentral controller of the multicast traffic management system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of multicast traffic management at amesh node of the multicast traffic management system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another method of multicast traffic managementat a mesh node of the multicast traffic management system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for implementingthe present systems and methods of FIGS. 1-7.

While the embodiments described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detailherein. However, the exemplary embodiments described herein are notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, theinstant disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring in general to the accompanying drawings, various embodimentsof the present invention are illustrated to show the structure andmethods for installing a component within a system, such as a securitysystem. Common elements of the illustrated embodiments are designatedwith like numerals. It should be understood that the figures presentedare not meant to be illustrative of actual views of any particularportion of the actual device structure, but are merely schematicrepresentations that are employed to more clearly and fully depictembodiments of the invention.

The following provides a more detailed description of the presentinvention and various representative embodiments thereof. In thisdescription, functions may be shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. Additionally,block definitions and partitioning of logic between various blocks isexemplary of a specific implementation. It will be readily apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may bepracticed by numerous other partitioning solutions. For the most part,details concerning timing considerations and the like have been omittedwhere such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understandingof the present invention and are within the abilities of persons ofordinary skill in the relevant art.

In this description, some drawings may illustrate signals as a singlesignal for clarity of presentation and description. It will beunderstood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that the signal mayrepresent a bus of signals, wherein the bus may have a variety of bitwidths and the present invention may be implemented on any number ofdata signals including a single data signal.

As will be appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art,several routing protocols may be used to discover multicast groups andto build routes for each multicast group. These routing protocols mayinclude, for example, Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM),Distance-Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP), Multicast OpenShortest Path First (MOSPF), Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP),Multicast BGP (MBGP), Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP),Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD), and GARP Multicast RegistrationProtocol (GMRP).

The Distance-Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) is based on therouting information protocol and may be found implemented on IP networkswhere routing protocols to support multicast are absent. DVMRP uses areverse path flooding approach, transmitting received packets along allpaths. It is generally understood that DVMRP suffers from networkscaling issues, due in part to the flooding approach in implementationslacking pruning mechanisms. DVMRP's flat unicast routing mechanism alsoaffects its capability to scale. In some DVMRP implementations, routersoccasionally re-flood a network based on one or more algorithms, such asthose that account for flooding frequency, data stream delivery time,and the like.

Protocol-Independent Multicast (PIM) includes four variant modes ofbehavior: PIM sparse mode, PIM dense mode, bidirectional PIM, and PIMsource-specific multicast, with PIM sparse mode and PIM dense mode beingthe most commonly implemented. The PIM dense mode uses a process ofreverse path flooding that is similar to the DVMRP. Unlike DVMRP, PIMdense mode is not concerned with the presence or absence of anyparticular unicast protocol determining which interface provides a pathback to the data stream source. As the name implies, unlike DVMRP, whichuses its own protocol, PIM is protocol independent.

PIM sparse mode is optimized for internetworks with sparsely distributedmulticast groups. PIM sparse mode uses multicast distribution treesrooted at a rendezvous point that is then used as a registration pointfor packet routing. In order to receive multicast data, routersexplicitly indicate to their upstream neighbors of their interest inparticular groups and particular sources. Routers use PIM Join and Prunemessages to join and leave multicast distribution trees. This allows thepackets in a given data stream to move from the sender, through therendezvous point, and ultimately on to the receiver. Routers in the pathoptimize the number of hops in the path during the multicast.

The Multicast Open Shortest Path First (MOSPF) is an extension of OpenShortest Path First (OSPF). MOSPF generally may facilitateinteroperation between unicast and multicast routers, and was designedsuch that it is generally backwards compatible with non-OSPF unicastrouters. In general, MOSPF employs a unicast routing protocol thatrequires each router in a network to be aware of all available links. AMOSPF router calculates routes from a source to all possible groupmembers for a particular multicast group. MOSPF routers generallyinclude multicast information in OSPF link state advertisements,enabling the router to identify active multicast groups and theirassociated local area networks. MOSPF routers generate a distributiontree for each multicast source, each group, and each sending source. Theroutes for each source/multicast group pair are calculated. Each time alink state changes, or if the cache times out, MOSPF will recalculatethe topology.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a mesh network deployed multicast trafficmanagement system 100 includes a central server 102 (i.e., a managementserver), a plurality of mesh nodes 104, and a plurality of destinations106. Central server 102, which may also be referred to as a “managementserver” or a “central controller,” may include a rules-based engine 108and may be communicatively coupled to all mesh nodes 104 within awireless mesh network. In some implementations, the rules-based engine108 may include a multicast daemon 110, as described more fully below.

Central server 102 may be configured to sense traffic (e.g., upon manualor automatic triggers) within a mesh network and generate rules forallowing decisions, disallowing decisions, or both. The rules may besent individually to each mesh node 104 in a routing path. The one ormore rules received at a mesh node may be applied to a packet duringpacket processing, resulting in a change to a pre-routing parameter inthe IP packet header of a received packet. For example, Netfilter hooksinside the Linux kernel may allow kernel modules to register callbackfunctions with the network stack. A registered callback function is thencalled back for every packet that traverses the respective hook withinthe network stack. Thus, packet mangling and packet filtering mechanismssuch as, for example, those included in the Netfilter framework may beused to determine whether to prevent a packet from passing (DROP) orallow it to pass (ACCEPT) based on one or more rules.

According to one example, the pre-routing parameter may consist of atime-to-live (TTL) parameter. Time-to-live (TTL) is a value in anInternet Protocol (IP) packet that tells a network router whether or notthe packet has been in the network too long and should be discarded.Each router that receives a packet subtracts one from the count in theTTL attribute. When the count reaches zero, the router detecting zerodiscards the packet. Using a multicast IP protocol, the TTL valueindicates the scope or range in which a packet may be forwarded. Byconvention:

0 is restricted to the same host

1 is restricted to the same subnet

32 is restricted to the same site

64 is restricted to the same region

128 is restricted to the same continent

255 is unrestricted

Thus, in this example, a TTL parameter of a multicast IP packet may beadjusted at each hop within a routing path of a wireless mesh networkaccording to a set of rules. In some instances, a multicast IP packetflows between multiple interfaces before reaching a destination. The TTLparameter for each IP packet may be adjusted at each mesh node (i.e.hop) on the mesh route. As a result, in some cases, a media playerrecognizes media servers without regard to whether the media player andmedia server are on the same sub-network or on separate sub-networks.

Rules-based engine 108 may create one or more rules for forwardingmulticast traffic (i.e. IP packets) to locations in a mesh network wheremedia “consumers” may exist. Rules-based engine 108 may be configured torecognize media “producers” and “consumers” and facilitate forwarding ofmulticast traffic. Once multicast flows can be recognized, the resultingunicast media traffic may be shaped accordingly to meet guarantees. Insome implementations, manipulating routing tables using suchtechnologies as, for example, a static multicast routing daemon, incombination with protocol independent multicast (PIM), an 802.11n meshbased network can obtain improved multicast performance.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a system architecture 200 may include amulticast daemon 210, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. Multicast daemon 210 may be configured to enter rules in theIP forwarding layer 230. A key negotiator daemon 215 such as, forexample, wpa supplicant, may implement key negotiation with a WPAauthenticator. The mac80211 subsystem 225 may move all aspects of mastermode into user space. It may depend on, for example, the host accesspoint daemon 220 handling authentication of clients, setting encryptionkeys, establishing key rotation policy, and other aspects of thewireless infrastructure. A network may implement the 802.11r standard235, the 802.11s standard 240, or both, supporting fast roaming betweenaccess points and mesh networking respectively. The system may includelower level drivers such as, for example wireless AP drivers, WiFi STAdrivers, or both 245, as well as, for example, LTE drivers, WiGigdrivers, and the like 250. A traffic shaping engine 255 may implementone or more traffic shaping mechanisms to delay some or all datagrams aspart of maintaining a desired traffic profile, thus performing ratelimiting. Traffic shaping may be used to optimize or guaranteeperformance, improve latency, increase usable bandwidth for some kindsof packets by delaying other kinds, and the like. The system may alsoinclude an optimized link state router 260 implementing a link staterouting protocol where one or more mesh nodes construct a connectivitynetwork map. Each mesh node then may independently determine the nextbest logical path from the mesh node to every possible destination inthe network. The collection of best paths will then form the mesh node'srouting table.

An example operation of multicast traffic flow will now be described.Initially, 4 megabits per second for a multicast group from a server,such as a server located in the cloud, to a group of destinations orusers may be allowed. After a certain time has elapsed, the bandwidthmay be modified to a reduced level. In some embodiments, this entiresequence is converted to multicast with traffic shaping rules. The rulesmay enhance performance within a time period and prevent wasteful use ofbandwidth. Further, the rules, which respond to detection of certainconditions and shape the traffic, can be programmatically applied from amanagement server such as central server 102 (e.g., see FIG. 1).

In certain embodiments, a simple management level screen, may prompt forserver and client addresses resulting in a propagation of rules toindividual nodes in the routed path. Once the multicast packets areflowing from the source to a destination, the unicast packets that flowmay be rate controlled using techniques such as the implementation of ahierarchical token bucket (HTB) algorithm.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in this multicast example, two multicast flows302, 303 are transmitted on the same channel. Packets are passed throughthe same access point (e.g., central server 102-a) and forwarded toregistered clients 104-a, 104-b (e.g., mesh nodes). Unregistered clientsdo not receive the forwarded packets 104-c, 104-d (e.g., mesh nodes).The mechanisms for accomplishing this distribution depends on theimplemented multicast IP protocols as described previously. Clientstation receiver 305 receives packets from multicast flow A. In oneexample, there may be a high packet error rate between client 104-b andcentral server 102-a that may detrimentally impact the overall conditionof the shared channel. For example, the noise floor may be raised as aresult of the higher packet error rate. The channel state detectionengine 310 detects the state of the channel shared by multicast flow Aand multicast flow B. Detection of a condition that exceeds apre-defined threshold included in a rule resident on the mesh node maytrigger a rule insertion by the rule insertion engine 320, thusimpacting a pre-routing parameter, such as the TTL value. In addition,in some instances, a higher order packet encoding and decoding enginemay reorder packets, implementing an encoding and decoding algorithmsuch as a random linear network coding algorithm.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in some embodiments, packets of multicast flowsthat are encoded and decoded using a method called random linear networkcoding. In certain instances, encoding occurs after the adjustment ofpre-routing parameters as determined by one or more rules. In someimplementations, a packet filtering interface, such as, for example,IPTABLES of the Netfilter framework, may be used for rule insertion. Inaddition to encoding and decoding, packets may be re-ordered at eachmesh node prior to transmission.

Packets are received and held at the Rx FIFO queue 450 until dequeuedand written to DRAM 452-a as packet descriptors 453 by the direct memoryaccess engine 454. A device driver packet processing framework extensionsuch as, for example, NAPI, may be implemented in order to improve theperformance of high-speed networking. These extensions may allows thenetwork device driver 456 to run with disabled interrupts while underhigh traffic conditions, resulting in a decreased in system load. ANAPI-compliant network device driver 456 may also accelerate thedropping of packets in the network adaptor itself, before the kernelexpends unnecessary resources.

After MAC level processing, the packets are queued in backlog queue anda SoftIRQ is scheduled 458. The SoftIRQ backlog queue 458 may beprocessed by triggering net_rx_action, which process the incomingframes. It may be triggered when the network device driver 456 notifiesthe kernel that input frames are present. PREROUTING chains may specifyaddress where incoming packets can be forwarded. The NF_IP_PRE_ROUTINGhook is the first one that will be invoked when a packet arrives at theOS routing framework 405. It is called following sanity checks butbefore routing decisions are made.

In some embodiments, rule insertion and application by for example, apacket filtering mechanism such as the Netfilter framework 410, 420,packet reordering, and packet decoding by, for example, a random linearnetwork coding encoder/decoder 415 occurs as described in further detailbelow. Encoded packets are placed in DRAM 452-b, and moved to the TxFIFO queue 460 by the direct memory access engine 454, where they areheld until dequeued and transmitted.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a node directed multicast traffic managementmethod 500 using various embodiments of the systems and/or devicesdescribed herein is shown. For example, method 500 may be implementedutilizing the various embodiments of system 100, central server 102,rules-based engine 108, multicast daemon 110, and/or other devicesand/or components. At block 502 the rules-based engine 108 generates oneor more rules for each mesh node in a group of mesh nodes in one or morewireless mesh routes. At least one of these rules manages traffic in amulticast operation instructing the mesh node to change a pre-routingparameter in a packet header of a multicast IP packet received at a meshnode during the multicast operation. Additionally, at block 504, themulticast daemon 210 (e.g., see FIG. 2) may enter rules in the IPforwarding layer 230 of each mesh node, thus conveying the one or morerules to each mesh node in the group of mesh nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a node directed multicast trafficmanagement method 600 using various embodiments of the systems and/ordevices described herein is shown. For example, method 600 may beimplemented utilizing the various embodiments of system 100, centralserver 102, rules-based engine 108, multicast daemon 110, system 300,client station receiver 305, channel state detection engine 310, higherorder packet encoding and decoding engine 315, rule insertion engine320, and/or other devices and/or components. At block 602, mesh nodereceiver 305 receives one or more rules, such as, for example, a ruleinstructing the mesh node to adjust the TTL parameter based on the stateof the channel. In some instances, these rules may be received inadvance of a multicast flow. Alternatively, or in addition, these rulesmay be received as part of, or concurrently with, a multicast flow. Atblock 604, a mesh node receiver 305 (e.g., client station receiver)receives channel state information from the physical layer. Channelstate information may be either statistical or instantaneous, and mayinclude independent or combined data relating to, for example,scattering, fading, power decay with distance, and noise.

At block 606, the rule insertion engine 320 may determine a pre-routingparameter value, such as the TTL value, based, at least in part, on thereceived channel state information. For example, where a channel state,such as a pre-defined noise floor condition, is detected by the channelstate detection engine 310 at the mesh node, a rule may be inserted by arule insertion engine 320, such as, for example, a rule insertion enginethat incorporates IPTABLES as part of the Netfilter kernel framework.For an IPTABLES implementation, a portion of the rule may have thefollowing form:

-   -   iptables -t mangle -A PREROUTING -j TTL --ttl-inc 9

This increments the existing TTL value by “9”, thus allowing the packetto traverse an additional 9 nodes. The noise floor may have risen beyonda rule insertion triggering threshold as a result of, for example,increased packet errors between a client station 104-a (e.g., mesh node)and server access point (e.g., central server 102-a; see FIG. 3).

At block 608, mechanisms in the OS packet processing stack 405, 410,415, 420 may set a pre-routing parameter of a received multicast packetto the pre-routing parameter value determined at block 606. In certainimplementations where, for example, the Netfilter architecture isdeployed, the packet mangling table changes packet information,including setting the TTL value in the packet header before a routingdecision is made, in accordance with one or more inserted rules. In somecases, the mangling table of the Netfilter framework is bound to one ormore of the hooks of the Netfilter hook API.

Referring now to FIG. 7, at block 702, in some embodiments, the positionof a multicast packet in a multicast packet ordering is modified, withthe position of the packet being changed relative to other packets inthe group. Rule insertion may be accomplished in a manner consistentwith those discussed previously, but the packets may be re-ordered, andin some instances, decoded and encoded in the receive 425 and transmit430 directions respectively at each mesh node. In some implementations,packets are encoded and decoded using a random linear network codingencoder and decoder 415. In some cases, the random linear network codingencoder and decoder 415 may implement proprietary random linear networkcoding algorithms and technologies such as those provide by Code OnTechnologies Inc.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a selectiveTTL adjustment method may use the least CPU bandwidth on the localnetwork processor. The ability to turn multicast flows on or offdepending on network directives facilitates better use of networkbandwidth. Local or remote storage devices may normally send SSDPpackets to a multicast group address on which there could be manycontent subscribers. The local processor may act as a multicastsoft-switch that programs the network interface module to dynamicallychange the TTL. The local processor may comprise a high performanceforwarding engine, but with flow insertion and removals in the order of100 per second may result in a degradation of performance of up to 7-10%if an efficient method is not in place. Instead of the normal way ofremoving the multicast group address, the only TTL is dropped from 128to 0. The end result is flow re-insertion is faster, and flow removal isalso faster. Instead of the typical 7-10% of local processor time, theusage with the technique described here 1%.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the computing device 800 may be an example of acentral server 102 (e.g., see FIG. 1), a mesh node 104, or both. In oneconfiguration, computing device 800 includes a bus 805 whichinterconnects major subsystems of computing device 800, such as acentral processor 810, a system memory 815 (typically RAM, but which mayalso include ROM, flash RAM, or the like), an input/output controller820, an external audio device, such as a speaker system 825 via an audiooutput interface 830, an external device, such as a display screen 835via display adapter 840, an input device 845 (e.g., remote controldevice interfaced with an input controller 850), multiple USB devices865 (interfaced with a USB controller 870), and a storage interface 880.Also included are at least one peripheral interface 860 and a networkinterface 885 (coupled directly to bus 805).

Bus 805 allows data communication between central processor 810 andsystem memory 815, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flashmemory (neither shown), and random access memory (RAM) (not shown), aspreviously noted. The RAM is generally the main memory into which theoperating system and application programs are loaded. The ROM or flashmemory may contain, among other code, the Basic Input-Output system(BIOS) which controls basic hardware operation such as the interactionwith peripheral components or devices. Applications (e.g., IPTABLES 410,420) resident with computing device 800 are generally stored on andaccessed via a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as a harddisk drive (e.g., fixed disk 875) or other storage medium. Additionally,applications may be in the form of electronic signals modulated inaccordance with the application and data communication technology whenaccessed via network interface 885.

Storage interface 880, as with the other storage interfaces of computingdevice 800, may connect to a standard computer readable medium forstorage and/or retrieval of information, such as a fixed disk drive 875.Fixed disk drive 875 may be a part of computing device 800 or may beseparate and accessed through other interface systems. Network interface885 may provide a direct connection to a remote server via a directnetwork link to the Internet. Network interface 885 may provide suchconnection using wireless techniques, including digital cellulartelephone connection, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) connection,digital satellite data connection, or the like.

Many other devices or subsystems (not shown) may be connected in asimilar manner. Conversely, all of the devices shown in FIG. 8 need notbe present to practice the present systems and methods. The devices andsubsystems may be interconnected in different ways from that shown inFIG. 8. The aspect of some operations of a system such as that shown inFIG. 8 are readily known in the art and are not discussed in detail inthis application. Computer instructions to implement the presentdisclosure may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable mediumsuch as one or more of system memory 815 or fixed disk 875. Theoperating system provided on computing device 800 may be, for example,iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, OSX®, oranother known operating system.

Moreover, regarding the signals described herein, those skilled in theart will recognize that a signal may be directly transmitted from afirst block to a second block, or a signal may be modified (e.g.,amplified, attenuated, delayed, latched, buffered, inverted, filtered,or otherwise modified) between the blocks. Although the signals of theabove-described embodiment are characterized as transmitted from oneblock to the next, other embodiments of the present systems and methodsmay include modified signals in place of such directly transmittedsignals as long as the informational and/or functional aspect of thesignal is transmitted between blocks. To some extent, a signal input ata second block may be conceptualized as a second signal derived from afirst signal output from a first block due to physical limitations ofthe circuitry involved (e.g., there will inevitably be some attenuationand delay). Therefore, as used herein, a second signal derived from afirst signal includes the first signal or any modifications to the firstsignal, whether due to circuit limitations or due to passage throughother circuit elements which do not change the informational and/orfinal functional aspect of the first signal.

While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments usingspecific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagramcomponent, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively,using a wide range of hardware, software, or firmware (or anycombination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure ofcomponents contained within other components should be consideredexemplary in nature since many other architectures may be implemented toachieve the same functionality.

The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/orillustrated herein are given by way of example only and may be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or describedherein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps donot necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated ordiscussed. The various exemplary methods described and/or illustratedherein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustratedherein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

Furthermore, while various embodiments have been described and/orillustrated herein in the context of fully functional computing systems,one or more of these exemplary embodiments may be distributed as aprogram product in a variety of forms, regardless of the particular typeof computer-readable media used to actually carry out the distribution.The embodiments disclosed herein may also be implemented using softwaremodules that perform certain tasks. These software modules may includescript, batch, or other executable files that may be stored on acomputer-readable storage medium or in a computing system. In someembodiments, these software modules may configure a computing system toperform one or more of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the present systems and methods and their practicalapplications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to bestutilize the present systems and methods and various embodiments withvarious modifications as may be suited to the particular usecontemplated.

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “a” or “an,” as used in thespecification and claims, are to be construed as meaning “at least oneof.” In addition, for ease of use, the words “including” and “having,”as used in the specification and claims, are interchangeable with andhave the same meaning as the word “comprising.” In addition, the term“based on” as used in the specification and the claims is to beconstrued as meaning “based at least upon.”

What is claimed is: 1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method at a server,comprising: sensing traffic within a wireless mesh network; generatingat least one rule for at least one mesh node based at least in part onthe sensed traffic, the at least one rule based at least in part onchannel state information; transmitting the at least one rule to the atleast one mesh node, the transmission sent in a routing path based atleast in part on the at least one rule; and instructing the at least onemesh node to change a pre-routing parameter during packet processing.22. The method of claim 21, wherein the pre-routing parameter isassociated with a multicast packet received at the at least one meshnode.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein instructing the at least onemesh node to apply the at least one rule during packet processingfurther comprises instructing the change in the pre-routing parameter ina packet header of the multicast packet.
 24. The method of claim 21,wherein instructing the at least one mesh node to change the pre-routingparameter comprises instructing a change in a position of a multicastpacket, the position of the multicast packet being modified relative toa plurality of received multicast packets.
 25. The method of claim 21,further comprising: determining at least one of a media producer or amedia consumer.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the at least onerule is generated based at least in part on determining at least one ofthe media producer or the media consumer.
 27. The method of claim 22,wherein the pre-routing parameter comprises a time-to-live (TTL)parameter.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the at least one ruleinstructs the at least one mesh node to adjust the time-to-live (TTL)parameter within a wireless mesh route.
 29. The method of claim 27,wherein the server and the at least one mesh node are included withinthe wireless mesh network.
 30. An apparatus for multicast trafficmanagement, comprising: a processor; memory in electronic communicationwith the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable,when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to: sense trafficwithin a wireless mesh network; generate at least one rule for at leastone mesh node based at least in part on the sensed traffic, the at leastone rule based at least in part on channel state information; transmitthe at least one rule to the at least one mesh node, the transmissionsent in a routing path based at least in part on the at least one rule;and instruct the at least one mesh node to change a pre-routingparameter during packet processing.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30,wherein the pre-routing parameter is associated with a multicast packetreceived at the at least one mesh node.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31,wherein instructing the at least one mesh node to apply the at least onerule during the packet processing further comprises instructing thechange in the pre-routing parameter in a packet header of the multicastpacket.
 33. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein instructing the at leastone mesh node to change the pre-routing parameter comprises instructinga change in a position of a multicast packet, the position of themulticast packet being modified relative to a plurality of receivedmulticast packets.
 34. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein theinstructions further cause the apparatus to: recognize at least one of amedia producer or a media consumer.
 35. The apparatus of claim 34,wherein the at least one rule is generated based at least in part onrecognizing at least one of the media producer or the media consumer.36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the pre-routing parametercomprises a time-to-live (TTL) parameter.
 37. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable code for securityand/or automation systems, the code executable by a processor to: sensetraffic within a wireless mesh network; generate at least one rule forat least one mesh node based at least in part on the sensed traffic, theat least one rule based at least in part on channel state information;transmit the at least one rule to the at least one mesh node, thetransmission sent in a routing path based at least in part on the atleast one rule; and instruct the at least one mesh node to change apre-routing parameter during packet processing.
 38. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the pre-routing parameteris associated with a multicast packet received at the at least one meshnode.
 39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38,wherein the at least one rule is configured to instruct the change inthe pre-routing parameter in a packet header of the multicast packet.40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, whereininstructing the at least one mesh node to change the pre-routingparameter comprises instructing a change in a position of a multicastpacket, the position of the multicast packet being modified relative toa plurality of received multicast packets.